1 Samuel 10:27

10:27 But some wicked men ¹  said, “How can this man save us?” They despised him and did not even bring him a gift. But Saul said nothing about it. ² 

1 Samuel 10:2

10:2 When you leave me today, you will find two men near Rachel’s tomb at Zelzah on Benjamin’s border. They will say to you, ‘The donkeys you have gone looking for have been found. Your father is no longer concerned about the donkeys but has become anxious about you two! ³  He is asking, “What should I do about my son?”’

1 Samuel 26:8

26:8 Abishai said to David, “Today God has delivered your enemy into your hands. Now let me drive the spear ⁴  right through him into the ground with one swift jab! ⁵  A second jab won’t be necessary!”

Psalms 72:10-11

72:10 The kings of Tarshish ⁶  and the coastlands will offer gifts;

the kings of Sheba ⁷  and Seba ⁸  will bring tribute.

72:11 All kings will bow down to him;

all nations will serve him.

Isaiah 36:16

36:16 Don’t listen to Hezekiah!’ For this is what the king of Assyria says, ‘Send me a token of your submission and surrender to me. ⁹  Then each of you may eat from his own vine and fig tree and drink water from his own cistern,

¹ tn Heb “sons of worthlessness” (see 2:12).

² tc In place of the MT (“and it was like one being silent”) the LXX has “after about a month,” taking the expression with the first part of the following chapter rather than with 10:27. Some Hebrew support for this reading appears in the corrected hand of a Qumran ms of Samuel, which has here “about a month.” However, it seems best to stay with the MT here even though it is difficult.

³ sn In the Hebrew text the pronoun you is plural, suggesting that Saul’s father was concerned about his son and the servant who accompanied him.

⁴ tn Here “the spear” almost certainly refers to Saul’s own spear, which according to the previous verse was stuck into the ground beside him as he slept. This is reflected in a number of English versions: TEV, CEV “his own spear”; NLT “that spear.” Cf. NIV, NCV “my spear,” in which case Abishai refers to his own spear rather than Saul’s, but this is unlikely since (1) Abishai would probably not have carried a spear along since such a weapon would be unwieldy when sneaking into the enemy camp; and (2) this would not explain the mention of Saul’s own spear stuck in the ground beside him in the previous verse.

⁵ tn Heb “let me strike him with the spear and into the ground one time.”

⁶ sn Tarshish was a distant western port, the precise location of which is uncertain.

⁷ sn Sheba was located in Arabia.

⁸ sn Seba was located in Africa.

⁹ tn Heb “make with me a blessing and come out to me.”